Recently I partnered up with a wonderful company The Runner Box and I am excited to finally tell you more about them!
Did you ever wish it was easier to hear about products that might benefit you as a runner? You know, when you find that one thing and wonder why hadn’t you ever heard of it before?!
Or you want to try some new fuel or electrolyte water enhancer but don’t want to commit to a whole box of them? How do you try just one?
Don’t worry, I have just the answer for you. You have someone else do all the work, put it in a nice little box and ship it right to your house.
Yes, you heard me. A box of samples shipped right to your house. And not just any samples, but samples runners, or tri-athletes or cyclists. I thought this was such a great idea! They do all the research, find all the cool products and send us samples.
Unlike other subscription box services there is no pressure to buy the products after, and pressure to review them for points! Which I love! If I like the product I will buy it, if I don’t then I won’t. And Runnerbox knows it.
So what do you get in a Runnerbox?
Inside the lid of the box is a motivational quote, always needed, I am a running quote junkie. There is also a sheet that lists all the samples with descriptions of the products and where to buy them directly.
Runnerbox doesn’t just put 4-5 samples in a box for you. They jam pack it full to bursting. They stuff that box completely full. It’s like a tent, once you take it out, the items never fit back in.
There are snack bars, mid-run fuel, electrolyte drink enhancers, ice pack, pain patch, sunscreen wipe, healthy chips and granola, to name a few.
If you want to give a gift of a Runnerbox but not necessarily a full subscription they also have birthday box! You can send someone one box that is specially designed for a birthday present.
It comes with confetti, birthday mints, a birthday card and those streamer party poppers to help celebrate.
The birthday kit not only comes with all the great running samples but other sample as well. There was a whey protein shake in cupcake flavor. Vitamins for woman (because I got the box for women), shampoo & conditioner, a set of running lights for running at night and an awesome bottle opener.
Know someone who is going be running their first (or fortieth) race? You can get them the gift a Limited Edition Race Survival Kit. Full of items that have been well thought of for pre- and post-race.
Image from RunnerBox
For my loyal readers RunnerBox is offering 10% your purchase by using the code RUNMSRUN so go start your subscription today, or go buy one for that runner in your life.
Just. Keep. Running.
Just a reminder that with my running I am raising money for St. Jude’s Hospital, click on the picture below to donate.
Be a HERO by clicking picture and donating today.
Want to find out what races I’ll be doing next year? Check out my list.
The heat, the humidity and the allergies have been hitting me pretty hard this summer and my runs have been getting slower.
The last week in June I started running early in the morning at the gym on the treadmill. It was horrible, but at least I was running, because when it was already 70° at 6 a.m. there was no way I was running outside that day.
But I had a virtual race and a long rung scheduled just before the July 4th holiday and didn’t want to do 8 miles on the treadmill.
So I got up early and hit the road, I picked a route next to the river for some cool air.
But my feet felt like lead weights. It was still too hot, my allergies was making it hard to breathe. It was the slowest run I had done in forever.
And I say that like I have been running forever…when really I started running again only a year and a half ago, and hadn’t run more than 8 miles before Aug of last year.
So I got my run done, and I was so disappointed in myself, but decided that I needed to get back to the gym and start using the treadmill again. This way I can set my pace, turn a movie on and just keep going.
After the holiday we went on our friends boat and slammed my knee on the fishing pole rack. I didn’t think it was that hard, it didn’t hurt, and I didn’t think anything of it. Then I woke up in the middle of the night with excruciating pain in my knee.
I couldn’t keep it bent for more than a minute, two at the most. If I hyperextended my leg it was equally painful, so when sleeping and stretching my leg I would wake in pain.
I couldn’t go up or down stairs, I couldn’t sit, and it was painful standing from a sitting position. I couldn’t drive without something propping my foot up (it was my left knee and I have an automatic). My leg at a 90° angle brought swear words flowing out of my mouth.
At first I didn’t realize what happened, how I hurt myself, but then I figured I must have bruised my kneecap (patella) when I hit the fishing pole rack. I don’t know if you have ever bruised a bone, but it isn’t sunshine and daisy’s. Walking was fine as long as I didn’t bend my leg too much, but running was out of the question.
That’s OK. I can rest an injury, as long as it isn’t too long…
Two weeks go by with no running and I can finally sit with my leg bent for longer than a few minutes. I can do stairs, my knee still hurts, but it is healing. I think I am finally safe to try running again…when I hurt my back and my allergies might really be a cold (but don’t tell anyone, cause I don’t actually get ‘colds’).
really?
*sigh*
this too shall pass.
But I am feeling slightly depressed about not running. Okay, I am feeling really depressed about not running. I am tired and I am grouchy. So this week is also going to be a rest week, and next week I will come back with a vengeance.
But there is good news in here too.
Recently I partnered up with a wonderful company The Runner Box.
This a subscription box company for runners, cyclists or triathletes. They send you a bimonthly box full of products and discounts like nutrition bars, gels, energy boosters, snacks, personal care and other running accessories.
For my loyal readers RunnerBox is offering 10% your purchase by using the code RUNMSRUN so go start your subscription today, or go buy one for that runner in your life.
*stay tuned to find out what came in my first RunnerBox
Just. Keep. Running.
Just a reminder that with my running I am raising money for St. Jude’s Hospital, click on the picture below to donate.
Be a HERO by clicking picture and donating today.
Want to find out what races I’ll be doing next year? Check out my list.
I am a little behind in my writing. In fact I have a few races I need to share, and you know what the hold up is? It’s the pictures. I keep losing my patience with my computer and shutting it down and not finishing the editing of my pictures. That’s pretty lame huh?
But anyway…
I decided to sign up for a marathon training plan through Another Mother Runner. It is an 18 week plan and at the end we get a shirt and a medal, with lots of support along the way. Currently I am on week three. Not only does the plan have the scheduled long runs but it also has scheduled speed work, which I wouldn’t do on my own.
It times perfectly with the Portland Marathon in October, which I have not yet signed up for. The price went up and so I need to save some more money before I can sign up…(hope there are still spots left)
The first week of the training plan was awesome. I was scheduled to run 19.5 miles and got 22.8 in! woohoo!
The second week, was not as awesome. I missed a run and instead of the 23.5 miles I only got 19.7 miles in. I was almost afraid I wasn’t going to get that many. I went to the gym to run 6 miles of negative splits but had to get off to refill my water somewhere around 3 miles, the treadmill reset itself before I got back. I had no idea how far or how long I ran. I was supposed to run 10 miles Sat morning but I set my alarm for the wrong day and woke up late, so I only got six miles in, but at least they were negative split miles. I was finally able to do my long run on Sunday morning, but it was so slow! but at least I got it done.
I usually do a long run on the weekend and short runs at work, but with summer here I can’t run at work now, it is just too hot. It is really hard to find the time during the week to get the miles outside with out the heat.
The hardest part about the training is cross-training and/or strength training. I can barely find the time to run, let alone time for other things like weights.
I have signed up for four races prior to the marathon and decided that I will not sign up for any more until after. I have a 10k in July, a 7k in August, a half marathon and a relay with a total of 10-12 miles in September. Ian has a 1k race at the end of June, which I will have to run with him, but I think I can manage that.
Just. Keep. Running.
Just a reminder that with my running I am raising money for St. Jude’s Hospital, click on the picture below to donate.
I hope everyone is pinch proof today and wearing green! What a perfect day to share with you my experience in this weekend’s Shamrock Run.
*click pic for source*
My very first race, and the one that made me an addict, was the Shamrock Run last year. Last year I ran the 8k and was so happy that I was able to finish. It took me an hour and I had to walk a couple of times, but I absolutely loved it. However, only the 15k finishers got a medal, so after the race I said that the next year I would do the 15k and get that medal.
So after one year, one 5k, two 8k’s, one 12k and one half marathon I came back to the Shamrock Run and completed the 15k race.
Getting my gear ready
The most daunting thing about the race wasn’t the distance, it is just under 10 miles and I try to do that on the weekend, but the hills. Hills suck. I just don’t have the lung power to maintain my speed, so I have to slow down, and I already run slow as it is. They say you have to maintain a 14 min/mile pace for the 15k, or you will be rerouted because they have to open the roads up to traffic by a specific time.
Elevation
One good thing about the course is that the longest hill is right by my work, so this year I decided to run that hill during my lunch break. Or at least as much of it as I can in the time I had, since I had to back track to get back to work. Since February I have been running 3-5 miles along the hill to train for the run, and you know what….it worked. Am I better at hills? no. Did I fly up the hill like I was on flat ground? no. But what did happen was that my muscle memory kicked in. And before I knew it I was on the downward side of the hill without having to stop.
OK, so that last part wasn’t exactly true. They did stop us part way up to let a row of cars go through, some runners had issues with that and tried to go around, but got shuffled back in line. Some others took this opportunity to get in front of those of us already waiting. But really, come on, it was only a minute or less that we were waiting. And if you were really competing in the race (like to place in a division or over all) you would have already been passed that point by then. And if you really wanted a PR or some other personal goal, you could have made up the time on the down hill. But I digress…
Course Map
So back to the beginning.
We have had unseasonably warm weather the past two months with little or no rain fall, so how do you make it rain? Plan a race. It started raining hard on Sat and didn’t stop till Sunday evening, with a few pauses on Sun. I don’t the have total rain fall numbers, but it was a lot. There was lake puddles along the course. But we are Portlanders, or at least Pacific Northwesterners, so the rain doesn’t bother us. We donned our hats, running rain gear or, for some, just a garbage bag and set out on the course. And it rained, and by rain I mean it poured. It rained so much that when it stopped for a time I didn’t notice because my hat was still dripping water from the bill. My toes squished in my shoes. Which stressed me out because I didn’t want to ruin my running shoes, as they are the only ones I have. My shirt was soaked, my sports bras were soaked, my pants were soaked. I was soaked through.
Here is the start of the big hill during a training run
Here is the same hill on race day. After it stopped raining
It took a while to get going, the first two-three miles are the worst for me. I really hit my groove somewhere after mile three, then I feel like I could go forever. You get caught up in the fever of the race and all the people at the starting line so I really had to be careful and not run to fast at first. The Map My Run app notifies me of my pace at ever quarter-mile. When the first quarter-mile notice came on and said I was running a seven-something min/mile, I slowed way down! Otherwise I would’ve keeled over in about ten minutes, I never would have been able to maintain that pace.
The road was filled with people, at all times. After doing multiple smaller races, I had forgotten how many people attend the Shamrock run. People passed me, I passed other people, I passed the people who passed me, then they passed me again. I was never alone, or even with just a few runners, there was always a massive group of runners around me. This made me feel good, because I never felt like I was at the back of the pack, it gave me encouragement that I can and will finish this race with a good time.
Let’s be honest here. I always talk about how I am proud to just finish a race, but I never really doubt that I will. Unless I get some major injury along the course, the races I have run so far have all been distances I have already ran, or almost ran (in the case of my first half, I think the most was 10 or 11 miles). I do set a time goal, for this distance it was under two hours, which I did, I ran it in 1:52:54, with an average pace of 11:32. I would have liked my average to be closer or sub 11 min/mile, but I really am happy with my pace. I did have to stop twice for traffic, once for cars and once for a train. I also paused three or four times to fill up my water bottle at the aid stations.
At the 8 mile water station on the 15k (about 12 miles for the half course) they also had beer and desserts. I did not stop, I really wanted that shot of beer, but I was on such a roll I didn’t want to lose momentum. I was running a sub 11 min/mile pace and didn’t want to ruin it. I just kept running, because well, there was free beer at the end.
The rewards
I will not be doing this run next year. I did the 15k like I wanted to and got my medal, so now it is time to move on to another race. Next year I am hoping to do the Hot Chocolate Run that is held in Seattle also in March.
Just. Keep. Running.
Just a reminder that with my running I am raising money for St. Jude’s Hospital, click on the picture below to donate. You have about one month left to donate, and have your name added to my shirt!
I Tri and Craft 